The Minor Counties Championship 1905

153 MONMOUTHSHIRE 1905 Championship matches: Played 8, won 5, lost 1, drawn 2 (won on first innings 2, lost on first innings none, no decision on first innings none) Position: Second out of nineteen Won: v Glamorgan at Cardiff, v Berkshire at Reading, v Cornwall at Newport, v Berkshire at Newport, and v Cornwall at Liskeard Lost: v Devon at Devonport Drawn – won on first innings: v Devon at Newport, and v Glamorgan at Newport Drawn – lost on first innings: None Drawn – no decision on first innings: None. Captain: P C Phillips (8 matches) Wicket-keeper: E J Diver (8 matches) Debutants: 2 (E J Diver, B Phillips)) Final season: None Hon Secretary: E S Phillips Professionals: 3 (E J Diver, A J Silverlock and R Steeples) Home ground 1: The Newport Cricket Club Ground, The Athletic Grounds, Rodney Parade, Newport (4 matches). Notes: In their fifth season in the competition, Monmouthshire had an unexpectedly successful campaign ending up in second position. Their previous highest position had been seventh in 1903. Not fancied by the pundits, the County won their first four matches, including overwhelming Glamorgan in their first match when they beat their local rivals only losing one wicket. On the field, P C Phillips succeeded Arthur Tatham as captain. Eight as opposed to ten matches were played, with Staffordshire no longer being met. Arthur Silverlock had an outstanding season with the bat, scoring 703 runs at 78.11. Edward Phillips was also very successful scoring 579 at 57.90. Richard Steeples stood out as the leading bowler taking 68 wickets at 8.45 apiece. Off the field, Edward Phillips succeeded Aubrey Butler as Hon Secretary. Career milestones reached during the season were three thousand runs by Arthur Silverlock, and one thousand runs by Edward Phillips and Arthur Tatham, MONMOUTHSHIRE MINOR COUNTIES CHAMPIONSHIP AVERAGES 1905 In the averages below, + after name denotes the 2 players who made their Championship debut for Monmouthshire during the season. Player M I NO HS Runs Ave 100 50 0 Ct St Overs Mdns Runs Wkts Ave BB-I 10M 5I Diver, E J + 8 11 1 52 164 16.40 - 1 - 14 3 - - - - - - - - R B Griffiths 7 9 0 37 83 9.22 - - 1 4 - 24 4 86 2 43.00 1-21 - - W E C Hudden 1 2 0 24 25 12.50 - - - 2 - - - - - - - - - B Phillips + 1 - - - - - - - - - - 11.3 1 46 4 11.50 4-46 - - E S Phillips 8 12 2 162 579 57.90 3 1 1 4 - - - - - - - - - F G Phillips 4 4 1 9 24 8.00 - - - - - 77.5 8 282 23 12.26 5-21 - 2 L Phillips 1 1 0 1 1 1.00 - - - - - - - - - - - - - P C Phillips 8 12 0 66 290 24.16 - 2 - 6 - - - - - - - - - F Rees 2 2 1 31* 31 31.00 - - 1 1 - - - - - - - - - G L Robathan 4 6 1 103* 184 36.80 1 1 2 1 - - - - - - - - - Silverlock, A J 8 13 4 206* 703 78.11 3 1 1 5 - 80.5 12 267 14 19.07 4-19 - - L F Stedman 5 6 0 18 38 6.33 - - - 5 - 106.1 26 328 18 18.22 5-36 - 1 Steeples, R 8 9 3 26 55 9.16 - - 1 5 - 231.4 72 575 68 8.45 9-45 4 7 J H Stratton 4 6 0 20 49 8.16 - - 1 1 - - - - - - - - - M Stratton 1 1 0 5 5 5.00 - - - - - - - - - - - - - Dr A L Tatham 7 10 0 72 274 27.40 - 2 - 6 - - - - - - - - - T B Williams 3 3 0 3 4 1.33 - - 1 3 - - - - - - - - - W A Williams 8 9 4 48* 58 11.60 - - 3 8 - 106.5 21 334 11 30.36 4-54 - - Extras/Sub/RO - - - - 124 - - - - 1 - - - 186 6 - - - - Total 88 116 17 206* 2691 27.18 7 8 12 66 3 638.5 144 [2104] 146 [14.41] 9-45 4 10 [2107] [14.43] (18 players) (6 ball overs) Note – runs bowling 2 short in first innings of Match 6 against Berkshire at Reading, and 1 short in first innings of Match 26 against Berkshire at Newport. In the latter match, it is not known which Williams held the catch in the first innings and it is treated as a substitute catch. FINAL SEASON FOR COUNTY – CHAMPIONSHIP CAREER AVERAGES No player made their last appearance for Monmouthshire in the Championship in 1905.